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Yesterday I was struck with a fit of ambition and took Blazer over to the park. Actually, it was that or go to the Y with The Squire, and I just find it hard to get jazzed up over sitting on a machine.

However…

We had a nice long walk – the loop is just shy of a mile and a half – and we were both pleasantly tired when we got home. Blazer was panting pretty badly; I had walked him down the boat ramp so he could get a drink but the moving water startled him. He took one or two licks and then backed away quickly when the river lapped at his feet. He tanked up when we got home.

This morning I had a couple of errands to run, but it is cool enough – 60º at 12:30, up from 52º at 7:30 – that I didn’t feel he’d be in danger left in the car for ten minutes. I grabbed his leash and suggested a ride. He took one look at me and went back to his bed. Normally, he will follow me outside, so I left the kitchen door unlatched and went to feed the birds.

The Squire said he told Blazer to “follow Momma” and the dog just looked at him and snorted.

I’ve decided to re-register with Kelly Services; I enjoy getting out and about from time to time, and a few extra shekels wouldn’t hurt, either. I called the Towson office and discovered they’ve closed that branch and everything is being handled downtown. And I do mean downtown. As in, the “crossroads of the city” – Baltimore and Charles streets. Yeesh.

I haven’t worked in town for decades, and everything I knew had changed. All the roadmaps I used to carry in my head are useless, now. So – The Squire said he would drive. (I knew he would!) He dropped me off in front of the building, and then went to the Maryland Historical Society to do some genealogy work until I called him. The interview went well, and the young man and I settled on some positions that would work for me. I’m not interested in anything longer than two weeks, unless it’s a steady part-time job. Monday-Wednesday-Friday for six months, or whatever. I feel pretty good about the whole thing, but I know personnel says a lot, and promises nothing.

A quick cell phone call to The Squire, and he said he’d pick me up on Cathedral Street. “One block up”, he said. What I’d forgotten, and he didn’t think to tell me, was that Cathedral Street. changes names at Baltimore , to become Lombard. I looked the wrong direction at the corner, and didn’t see it, so I kept walking. When he finally caught up with me I was about three blocks west of where I should have been.

A couple of days ago I mentioned a gizmo one of the women in my knitting group was using to hold her yarn while she worked. The Squire asked me to draw him a sketch, because he wasn’t “seeing” what I described.

Yesterday afternoon, he locked himself in the workshop and came out later with this little gem. It’s two pieces of wood (maple, in this case), pegged together, and a dowel rod in the center of the flat piece. I wind the yarn onto the piece of PVC pipe, and slip the pipe over the spindle. The yarn unwinds as I work, and doesn’t go skittering all over the place.

Last week, I moseyed on over to Grace Shaw’sshop, The Virtual Dollhouse, and collected a lot more goodies for Austin’s McKinley. The kitchen cabinets I had used in the original go-round, when I made this up for his dad, have been discontinued, so Grace and I put together a few things that were by the same maker, but different finishes, and I brought them home and painted them to match. There are three different types of wood, here, and the stove is another matter entirely. I simply wasn’t willing to spend a lot on this project, and the stove is a matter of “you get what you pay for”. S’Okay with me. Nothing that a little bit of foam core won’t fix.

I got the kitchen papered, and the soffit glued in place. Yes, I know the wallpaper pattern doesn’t match up, but there are limits. I still have to do the bay window, but that – she says hopefully – is a minor problem. Tonight I will hex around in A.C. Moore and see if I can find something to put on the floor. I do need spigots for the sink, and a stove hood. I know I saved the one I pulled out, but heaven only knows what I did with it. Put it in a Good Place, most likely. Can’t find the brass bed for the master bedroom, either.

Several days ago, I heard a beautiful love song on the radio, sung by a fellow with the sweetest voice. I’d never heard the tune, but it stuck in my head. This afternoon I was doo-doo-doodling the melody, and The Squire asked me about it. So I told him.

“Have you ever heard that before?”, I asked.

“Do you mean you haven’t?”

“No.”

Elvis Presley. Love me Tender.

Honest to Pete, I had no idea that was who was singing. No wonder the girls were all crazy about him! See what you miss when you go to a boarding school.

Over the course of my speckled career I’ve joined any number of exercise groups. I belonged to Spa Lady until they went out of business, and Curves until the same thing happened. (Do I detect a pattern, here?) After he retired, The Squire and I joined Gold’s Gym until the loud music and fit-inducing videos drove us out. Seriously, the high-speed films made me feel as if I was about to have an epileptic seizure, and I had to wear “ear goggles” because of the noise.

About four years ago, we joined the local YMCA, and decided it was going to be a “job”, one we took up three days a week. No point in paying money if we didn’t keep at it, which we did. Both of us benefitted from it, and looked good. In September, 2014, I had surgery on my hand, which put me out of commission for a couple of months. And then, a year later, I had surgery on my neck to repair and replace two ruptured discs. Again, I was unable to work out for several months.

The Squire kept going to the Y, and I kept making excuses.

He keeps pushing me to get up off my duffle bag and come along, so I agreed to start up again when we got home from vacation. And he made me keep my promise.

Stinker.

We went up on Thursday afternoon and again today. My number is no longer in the system and I can’t remember most of what I was doing, but I keep plugging along. I did pick up some info on aerobics and such, and I think I’ll do much better with that, then I would with the machines.